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Where passion meets faith…In sha Allaah

Month: January 2013

All praise is due to Allah who guides us to realize what is best for us in this life and in the hereafter. It is not long after now that we would be questioned about how we lived each second of our lives. Subhanallah, how do we defend ourselves? How much of our actions do we do for the sake of Allah? We may have found a way around to justify our activities but really, we never know for sure how much we have done and if it has been accepted or not. No detail is left; the little things we disregard could be the cause of eternal fall or a saving grace.

“On the Day when every soul will find itself confronted with all that it has done of good and all that it has done of evil (every soul) will long that there might be a mighty space of distance between it and that evil.”
Surah Al-i-Imran :30

It is befitting to realize at the end of the day that your salats count to five, probably with some nafilahs too, charity given here and there, you smiled all day because it is sunnah, no quarrels and you did lower your gaze, ma sha Allah. You have read some Quran and tahajjud prayer is your intent for tonight. Great day I must say, and if you were to pick a night to die you would pick one of such because you had a great start and a reward seeking afternoon, Jannah here you come, right?

Guilt trip, sometimes we may feel we could reward ourselves after pretty much being good, and that little voice in our head would assure us that the deed is really little compared to the lots we have done. Is there a chance that this is a case of audaciousness? For really, we do not know how we will fare in the hereafter and thus have we taken account of ourselves before we stand on the day when no modalities can be made?

Ibn Awn said, ‘Do not feel secure because of a great number of deeds for you do not know if they have been accepted or not. Do not feel secure about your sins for you do not know if they have been expiated or not. This is because all your deeds are unseen to you and you have no idea what Allah will do with them’.

Allah says:
“Do they consider themselves secure from the retribution of God? No one can have such attitude except those who are lost”
Surah Al-Araf:99

What then gives us security on a day when we will face our Lord after being “muslims” but yet remain in the agony of what we have earned? Have we ended up in transgression knowingly or unknowingly? This is enough to make man think and just the thought of not knowing makes every second more vital, only Allah can save us.

I was flipping through a book called The Journey to Allah by Hafiz Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali and I came across a Hadith which is my inspiration for this post.

Ibn Majah (4245) narrated from Thawbaan (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet peace and blessings of Allah be upon him said: “I certainly know of people of my ummah who will come on the day of resurrection with good deeds like the mountains of Tihaamah, but Allah will make them scattered dust”. Thawbaan said: O messenger of Allah describe them to us and tell us more, so that we will not become of them unknowingly. He said: “They are your brothers and from your race, worshipping at night as you do, but when they are alone transgress the sacred limits of Allah”. (Sahih Hadeeth).

Flashbacks of alone moments came by, have I isolated myself thinking I found peace but have wasted my time earning sins? It could be that soap opera I follow all year, or the music plugged to my ears as the lyrics touch my heart. It could be how when I am alone, I combine my prayers because I don’t pray on time but when with my friends I am the first to perform wudu. It could be an indulgence small in my eyes but terrible in the sight of Allah.

In the same chapter, he classified the types of actions that will be as scattered dust into seven, as:

1. One having deeds which he hopes. good but they end up scattered dust and are altered to evil deeds. Allah, Exalted said:
Surah Nur: 39- “As for those who disbelieve their deeds are as a mirage in a desert. The thirsty one sees it to be water till he comes to it and finds it naught, and finds, in the place thereof, Allah Who will pay him his due; and Allah is swift in reckoning”

2. Close to the above: a servant commits an evil deed to which he pays no regard, thinking it insignificant, and that sin will be the cause of his perdition.
Allah,Exalted said:
Surah Nur: 15”…you counted it a trifle but in the sight of Allah is very great”

3. Worse than the previous case: one to whom the evil of his conduct seems pleasing. Allah, Exalted said:
Khaf: 103-104 “Say: Shall We not inform you who will be the greatest losers by their works? Those whose efforts go astray in life of the world, and yet they reckon they do good work”

4. Sufyan al-Thawri would say upon hearing this verse ‘Woe to the people of ostentation’. The footnote under this is quite lengthy and it is on the hadith about the first to be hurled into the fire: the scholar, the one who gave charity, and the mujahid –all because of an action not done for the sake of Allah (Muslim #1905/14923 on the authority of Abu Hurayrah…)

5. The one who has worked righteous deeds but has also wronged others and he thinks that his deeds will save him , so there confronts him that which he was not expecting. All of his deeds are aporportioned amongst those who he wronged, then some wrong still remains to be requited, and so their evil deeds are piled onto his and as a result he is hurled into the fire.

6. His account could be scrutinized at which it will be asked of him to show how he was grateful for the blessings granted him. The least would be balanced against his deeds and outweigh them with the remaining blessings yet to be weighed! This is why the Prophet peace be upon him said, ”Whoever’s account is scrutinized will be punished”, or, will be destroyed.

7. He could have evil deeds that destroy some of his deeds or the deeds of his limbs, save Tawhid, as a result of which he will enter the Fire.

How can one relax knowing that as long as life is granted, it is humanly possible to render all the good worked for as null or evil? We may hide from the eyes of people and do as we please but certainly Allah watches all we do. Indeed it is frightful to imagine that after all the years of ibadah and struggle; we spoil it with a sin that falls into one of the above. O Allah help us to constantly worship You with sincerity in public and in isolation, put the love of what You love in our hearts, if we don’t do it to please You and You alone, then take it away from us and us away from it. Ameen.

POEM TITLE: MOUNTAINS TO DUST
Mountains to dust
Truly with time man is in loss
Is it in peace and laughter we would be?
When this news has come to us
Of how our everything could beget nothing
And our security is our faith’s sincerity
We ignore the heart, and employ our limbs
When our practice is tainted
By the soul of our deeds, the intent
What do our hearts hold?
Earth’s opulence or do we cherish heaven’s words
O mankind how do we then sleep
When the fear of the unknown hunts our known goods
Heavy on our backs but light on the scale
O Allah don’t turn our mountains to dust

Mountains to dust
Truly with time man is in loss
On that day when limbs will talk
What if their confessions
Turn our platinum to sand
What if someone takes away all we have earned?
We have prayed in congregations
Said ameen in harmonization
But when alone how do we respond to the call
Who are we behind closed doors, within thick walls?
Do we present Islam as it is, and ever was?
Are we the same before paupers and kings?
Or do the rules change when the influential reigns
Whose honors do we request, men or God’s?
O Allah don’t turn our mountains to dust

Mountains to dust
Truly with time man is in loss
Have we mistaken yet remained in ideal composure?
When we have been told of a Doom’s Day to come
Yet we still engage in idle talk
No verses do we speak, chasing shadows of celebrities
Are we building or severing our prospects for Jannah
From the depths of our guts to the tentacles of lust
Have we been soldiers against, or slaves to our Nafs
And how have we fared in alliance and kinship
Have we differed as we please?
Deserting our true creed?
No matter too little, all words, all acts
May we purify before our ends defy
O Allah don’t turn our mountains to dust

Mountains to dust
Truly with time man is in loss
Five times a day, we wash to prostrate
What have we lived to gain
If we toiled to have it all blown away
O Allah, lead us to shelter our premium deeds
And to secure the endorsements of our worship
Separate our hearts from triviality
And make Your remembrance our precedence
Forgive us for we know not what we have sent forth
Guide us to places that lead us to Your pleasure
Seal our thoughts and gazes from earning Your wrath
Help us meet You with gems and be pleased with us
Truly with time we are in loss
O Allah, don’t turn our mountains to dust